InsideLacrosse.com 2010 NCAA D III Preview: No. 5 Roanoke Maroons

Roanoke swept their regular season schedule and established themselves as one of the most prolific offenses in the country, averaging 18.79 goals a game, good for No. 1 in the nation. Unfortunately, their winless streak came to an abrupt end in the playoffs; where Roanoke dropped its final two games of the season, first to Washington and Lee in the ODAC finals, and then to a surging Denison in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament.

Coach Pilat brings back a lot of players that can score, but he'll be focused on tightening up a defense gave up an average of 10.21 goals per game, putting them at No. 92 in the country. A high speed offense like Roanoke's is prone to giving up goals compared to a team focused on possession time, but Pilat will be looking to reduce that GAA by a goal or two in 2010.

Rounding out the Defense

The Maroons have plenty of individual talent on the defensive end. Pre-season Defenseman of the Year Sam Love (91GB) is back for his senior year and is an intimidating presence down low. He has a great selection of take away checks, especially his over-the-head check, and will push out all over the field.

Long stick midfielder Steve Simmons (97GB) is the pre-season Long Stick Midfielder of the Year and plays the position in exciting fashion. A classic LSM, Simmons is relentless in pressuring the top midfielder and sparking their high scoring transition game.

With two pre-season positional players of the year on defense, you'd question where the problems are on defense.

Coach Pilat commented, “We have to shore up the defense and play more as a unit. We may not score as many goals as last year, which means we'll have to keep the scoring lower. I'd like to see us spend more time on hedging. I like our aggressive play, we have good individual talent, but we need to be more of a unit. We've been spending more time on settled 6v6 defense, and less on the transition defense we've focused on in the past.”

He'll use junior Alex Burkhead (27GB), an underrated shutdown man, and seniors Chase Phelps and Luke Nichols (15GB) to compliment his defensive stars. Phelps was a starter in his first two years on campus, but an injury sidelined him last season. Nichols is a physical crease player who could be poised for a monster senior year, his 6-0 210 frame is an unwelcoming present for opposing crease players.

Four year starter Jake Dorsey (57%) is back in net. He has tons of big game experience and is having a strong pre-season. He's comfortable with pressure and will keep his cool when his team needs him most.

Offensive Power

The attack brings back junior Matt Quinton (55,12), with seniors Ashton Hotchkiss (13,14) and Pat March (42,26), all starters a season ago. This unit is going on their forth year together and their chemistry could outweigh any defensive game plan.

Pilat ran six attackmen a year ago and would like to develop the depth to do it again. Sophomore Salisbury transfer Reid Mayberry is the team's forth attackman, but junior Noah Gibby (17,4) and freshman Canadian Richard Lachlan are ready to rotate in as well. Lachlan saw some early minutes against York and netted five goals on the day, not a bad debut. These three could log as much time as the starting three.

In the midfield, Pilat thinks senior Brian Foley (21,21) is as underrated as it gets; he returns after an all conference season a year ago. Junior Trey Keeley (21,16) and senior Steve Furdock (15,14) should round of the first line.

Jeff Keating (30,15) switches from attack to midfield and brings a wealth of scoring knowledge to the position. Justin Tuma (8,23) should see more runs in the offensive midfield after earning All American honors as a short stick specialist in '09.

Roanoke likes to open it up and run the field, so look for a lot of players to get thrown into the mix until a successful formula shapes out. They will use junior Greg Khanzadian at the face-off X to provide extra touches, he was 67.7% last year.

Games to Watch

The match-up at Stevenson on 3/27 should be lights out. It'll feature two physical teams that like to get after it. Roanoke could use the OCC boost and it'll give them a good test before they get into the playoffs.

Washington and Lee will host Roanoke on 4/7. Washington and Lee took the ODAC championship last year in a 14-15 OT thriller, which was a great follow-up to the 14-13 OT Roanoke win in the regular season. Nothing beats passionate conference play.